TONY KURDZUK/THE STAR-LEDGER Sgt Jim Ryan of the New Jersey State Police in the Assembly Chamber of the Statehouse. In public, the political talk of late is all budget and Gov. Chris Christie. But the insider political chatter is focused on someone else: State Police Sgt. Jim Ryan.

The longtime member of the governor’s security detail won accolades in 2007 when he protected then-governor Jon Corzine from a fire that had broken out after the governor’s SUV crashed in a high-speed Parkway accident. Since then, Ryan was promoted and last year was named acting leader of the Executive Protection Bureau unit in charge of gubernatorial security.

But on Feb. 13, Ryan was surprisingly assigned to the State Police Academy, according to state records. The transfer meant a reduction in pay because he had been serving in an “acting lieutenant” spot at the Statehouse and he’s back to being a sergeant at the Training Bureau.

Many Corzine supporters tell The Auditor that they view the Ryan transfer as an inappropriate political maneuver by Christie, who they believe was worried irrationally about Ryan’s loyalty. On the flip side, Christie people say Ryan’s recent promotions were signs of favoritism displayed by Corzine and they were told that the bumps rankled the rest of the bodyguard unit.

Predictably, representatives of Corzine and Christie declined to comment. Same goes for the head of EPB and the spokesman for State Police Superintendent Rick Fuentes. Ryan did not respond to messages seeking comment.

Around the Statehouse, some longtime political hands said the Ryan move is nothing unusual because there are always personnel changes at EPB when the occupants of the governor’s office change. A governor, they say, really needs to be comfortable with his protectors. The biggest issue to them was that Ryan’s transfer meant a loss of several thousand dollars a year in pay.

It’s a small, small world

Lost in Thursday’s flood of testimony on controversial pension and benefit reforms was a gem from Sean Spiller, a teacher in Wayne. When he explained his decision to become a teacher, he said his close college friends ribbed him about it. They mostly went into business, he said, and are “highly successful. In fact, one of my very good friends went on to run the presidential campaign of a prominent Republican candidate.”

Left unsaid was that the friend also ran the campaign of the new Republican governor, who is looking to cut pensions and benefits of public employees (including teachers).

Spiller later confirmed he was referring to Mike DuHaime, the lead strategist for Christie, who previously ran Rudy Giuliani’s presidential campaign and was a senior staffer on John McCain’s ’08 team. Spiller and DuHaime went to Rutgers together and played on the hockey team.

Inspired by the pair’s hockey coach, Spiller became a science teacher who opposes pension changes because they will “make all future educators think twice about taking the road less traveled.”

But college ties bind, and Spiller said he and DuHaime remain close.

The more things change….

Christie ran on a platform of fixing the economy, attracting businesses and keeping companies from leaving New Jersey for greener pastures in places like Pennsylvania. The Republican was highly critical of Corzine’s efforts in business development and retention and said he would usher in a new era.

So it’s more than a little bit ironic that, as The Auditor has learned, Christie is keeping in place Corzine’s economic-development czar: Jerry Zaro.

A Democratic lawyer with a history of political fundraising and real estate development accomplishments, Zaro is a longtime friend of Christie (the two attended a 2007 Bruce Springsteen concert together in Paris). It was believed he was planning a run for the exits as soon as the new gang was in place, probably to a high-powered firm. But Zaro told The Auditor his decision to stick around was easy because his efforts to bring jobs to New Jersey aren’t partisan.

“There are so many irons in the fire, and they’re just not political,” he said.